reason 1:

The best service

As the owners of Coal Ironworks, it is not just our passion to build the highest quality machines we possibly can. We are passionate about partnering with you when you decide to purchase one of our hydraulic presses. From getting the right press fitted with the right dies for where and how you work, to making sure you have everything you need when maintaining or troubleshooting your press. As makers we know sometimes things do not go as planned, and if you have trouble with your machine or it isn't functioning how you'd hoped it would, we are here to help! We have even assisted in troubleshooting and repairing other manufacturer's machines when they were unable or unwilling to help. It is our goal to be here when you need us and our dedication to quality from the first interaction to the last that is our identity as a company, and one of the most important factors in deciding which press to buy!

reason 2:

constant improvement

Innovation of our machinery is constant. We are always talking with those that are using our machines day in and day out about how we can improve. It's how the design has been refined to such a high degree in a short period of time, and why we are able to endlessly arrive at new and fresh ideas! When things aren't to the highest degree of form and function we tweak and test to find a better way.

Reason 3:

Longevity

The machines we build are made to function for years with minimal maintenance. When the time does come to rebuild your press, we offer full rebuild kits to get your press back to performing like the day it arrived. We are the first and only small press manufacturer to use graphite lubricated bronze wear plates on our machines. This ensures very long service life and eliminates many of the issues of traditional forging presses - loose slides, the mess of constantly needing to grease your machine, galling and non-repairable wear of the all steel slides -

-The coal story -

Nathan had moved to Indiana to follow his now wife. There, he met Andrew, and the pair began working together from time to time, on forging projects. After awhile, Andrew built a 25 ton H-Frame forging press to aid the process of the work coming through his shop. Fast forward several years, and several babies, the now-fathers decided to go to work together, forming Coal Ironworks.

At some point along the way, an idea was sparked to build a c-frame press from the scraps of the old 25 ton H-Frame that Andrew originally built. Pulling rusted I-beam from the local scrapyard, they welded their first frame with a "vintage" stick welder and a lot of ingenuity. Trial and error slowly assembled a functional press that operated on standard household voltage, and the 16 ton was born.

Quadstate 2015 was the year they debuted their creations in front of the blacksmithing community. The response was good, but those with history in the industrial trades had a lot to say about that original design. Taking what they had learned, the two experimented endlessly with different styles of machines until finally they landed upon the single piece frame, and from there the quick-change die system came to be. They continued to refine though, recognizing that through continued innovation and by always talking with their customers about how they used the machines-what could be better - the latest iteration of their forging presses was brought to market.

Nathan and Andrew have no desire to stop there, though! Asking those using the machines for criticism is now habitual, and continues to spark new and exciting versions of the original design. With presses all over the US and Canada, into Guam and Saudi Arabia, Coal Ironworks continues to grow and expand. All the while, the pair are doing what they love: creating high-quality machines for people making high-quality ironwork.